Wednesday, 15 August 2012

CAN YOU KEEP YOUR SIDE OF THE BARGAIN?

Keeping promises made to your customers brings about a repeat purchase. You may not keep pace with customer expectations as they change daily, but you have control on delivering the promises that your product or business has made. Being successful in business now requires reconciling your business or product promise with customer expectations. You must keep your side of the bargain if your business must move from making profit to sustaining profit. And sustained profit is only possible through loyal customers who get quality services and products.

You can deliver your promises in four major ways:

Promise and under-deliver: You lose your customers as you make them

Promise and deliver: You keep the moment, at this point, you have gained the confidence of your customers, and they know what to expect from you.

Promise and Over-deliver: This is the level SMEs are expected to operate. The competition is intense, and customers want to get more for less and will be willing to buy from whoever will make that possible.

Over promise and under deliver: This is one major problem ‘salesmen and Marketers’ have, and the reason they are not taken serious.

You cannot build loyal customers if your business is not delivering on its promises. Fulfilled promises, build business reputation and customer confidence. This promise is a commitment that you business has made to the customers and you are obliged to keep your own side of the bargain. When customers buy from you, they are trusting that you fulfill your promise of satisfying them with your product or service, failure to do so could lead to cognitive dissonance.

To give your customers that experience that will always bring them back, you must set customer expectation goals to go beyond satisfying the basic need of the customer to the assumed or unstated need.

Here are ways to keep your side of the bargain

Ensure that your product or service is worth the price. There may be tendency to inflate prices especially when you feel that the customer lacks good knowledge of the product features. It is your responsibility to ensure that they derived absolute satisfaction from the product.

Build trust and loyalty, not your bank account. Any promise delivered, is another building block added to the trust your customers have for you. If you succeed in making your customers trust you, you will succeed in building a profitable business.

Decide to follow-upMake up your mind to follow up on your customers that decision forces you to ensure that you offer them the best you can, and at the same time follow up on customer complaints.